Really appreciated this, Sam — especially the honesty on the writing side. "Sounds like AI no matter what I try" is real — for instance, I’ve always been a big em dash user and now that’s seen as AI generated.
The ethics section reminded me of working with an international NGO a few years ago. We had a blanket ban on using any tools running on AWS — enviro record, labor practices, the usual list. Sounds principled. In practice it meant every tool decision turned into a scavenger hunt for a worse alternative — I remember specifically hunting for a SurveyMonkey replacement that just wasn't as good.
At some point I asked: who's actually getting hurt here? Not Amazon — our non-use was a rounding error. Us, though — more hours, worse tools, more friction, for an org already fighting uphill. And if we opt out, someone with fewer scruples just uses it instead. Are we accomplishing anything besides tying our own hand behind our back?
Not saying ethics don't matter — just that it’s worth considering the trade-offs and asking who’s actually being hamstrung/hurt in their goals when we opt out of these tools? Us as consultant? Our social impact clients? There's something to be said for values, but there's also something to be said for the value these tools add to the social impact work we and our clients are trying to do.
spent a lot of time helping non-profits and small businesses analyze what we call their five pillars. I do use AI to help me analyze. I uploaded our framework to the LLM and in theory the agent goes through it in the same way I would. I always review the work just like if I was in the office with a junior consultant. However, just because I have years of experience, sometimes I can see patterns or things that it just doesn't catch. Or maybe I need to improve my training ;)
I can think of two instances where clients have specifically requested that AI not be used for their work. It gets tricky because it's been come so integrated like in Excel or even Google search results that trying to adhere to their wishes is complicated but important
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences Jennifer! I agree, I can usually see patterns an LLM doesn't catch all the time. I think it says more about us :-)
Really appreciated this, Sam — especially the honesty on the writing side. "Sounds like AI no matter what I try" is real — for instance, I’ve always been a big em dash user and now that’s seen as AI generated.
The ethics section reminded me of working with an international NGO a few years ago. We had a blanket ban on using any tools running on AWS — enviro record, labor practices, the usual list. Sounds principled. In practice it meant every tool decision turned into a scavenger hunt for a worse alternative — I remember specifically hunting for a SurveyMonkey replacement that just wasn't as good.
At some point I asked: who's actually getting hurt here? Not Amazon — our non-use was a rounding error. Us, though — more hours, worse tools, more friction, for an org already fighting uphill. And if we opt out, someone with fewer scruples just uses it instead. Are we accomplishing anything besides tying our own hand behind our back?
Not saying ethics don't matter — just that it’s worth considering the trade-offs and asking who’s actually being hamstrung/hurt in their goals when we opt out of these tools? Us as consultant? Our social impact clients? There's something to be said for values, but there's also something to be said for the value these tools add to the social impact work we and our clients are trying to do.
spent a lot of time helping non-profits and small businesses analyze what we call their five pillars. I do use AI to help me analyze. I uploaded our framework to the LLM and in theory the agent goes through it in the same way I would. I always review the work just like if I was in the office with a junior consultant. However, just because I have years of experience, sometimes I can see patterns or things that it just doesn't catch. Or maybe I need to improve my training ;)
I can think of two instances where clients have specifically requested that AI not be used for their work. It gets tricky because it's been come so integrated like in Excel or even Google search results that trying to adhere to their wishes is complicated but important
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences Jennifer! I agree, I can usually see patterns an LLM doesn't catch all the time. I think it says more about us :-)